July 22, 2025
Another Tuesday, another Sixers mailbag.
Everyone knows the drill here. This week, your questions -- shockingly -- focused on the Sixers' shortcomings. A deep-dive into potential starting lineups with and without injury-prone stars, the team's lack of a traditional point guard and much more:
From @sportmanzf6: Opening night starters prediction factoring injuries? And then rotation beyond that?
It certainly does not sound like Joel Embiid or Paul George is locked in for opening night. There has been no substantive update on the state of Embiid's left knee beyond the Sixers' assertion that he is "on track" to be available "right around" the start of training camp at the end of September. Embiid's arthroscopic procedure, which came with a six-week re-evaluation period, took place in early April.
That is not to say Embiid will certainly miss the beginning of the regular season in the third week of October. Just that, as everyone knows far too well, nothing should feel like a safe bet until the game has tipped off and Embiid is standing on the court. The same can be said for George at this point, particularly after Shams Charania of ESPN made clear in his reporting that the nine-time All-Star's return to the floor after undergoing his own left knee scope will be guided by an abundance of caution.
Embiid and George both feel like close to toss-ups for opening night based on all public information about their injury statuses. So I will try my hand at a lineup featuring both of them, an Embiid-but-no-George lineup and a George-but-no-Embiid lineup. A unit without either of them will be covered later on in this mailbag.
If all goes well, my guess remains that George starts at power forward for the Sixers and plays a decent number of minutes at that spot:
| PG | SG | SF | PF | C |
| Tyrese Maxey | Quentin Grimes | Kelly Oubre Jr. | Paul George | Joel Embiid |
In this world, the Sixers' bench rotation should be made up of Jared McCain, VJ Edgecombe, Justin Edwards, Trendon Watford and a center -- likely Adem Bona.
If Embiid plays and George does not, filling that starting power forward spot is tricky. Watford is probably the best bet:
| PG | SG | SF | PF | C |
| Tyrese Maxey | Quentin Grimes | Kelly Oubre Jr. | Trendon Watford | Joel Embiid |
At this point, unless Edwards plays exclusively as a small-ball four, the Sixers would have to insert one of their NBA-ready two-way forwards into the rotation. Jabari Walker is probably the best fit, though Dominick Barlow has much better size. This illustrates just how important a part of the Sixers' power forward rotation George will be next season, whether it is his nominal position or not.
If Embiid is out and George is in, Bona has to start and George has to be capable of carrying a more significant offensive workload than he did last year -- unless Grimes is ready to step into a secondary role on a consistent basis. It is hard not to view that as an equally plausible scenario at this point.
| PG | SG | SF | PF | C |
| Tyrese Maxey | Quentin Grimes | Kelly Oubre Jr. | Paul George | Adem Bona |
Oubre's rim pressure in these lineups would actually be quite helpful, but the most important thing is that Grimes or George demonstrates on a consistent basis that they can help Maxey shoulder a significant piece of the creation burden that comes with Embiid's absence.
Of course, this arrangement would also place a massive level of responsibility on the shoulders of Bona, who believes he is ready for that sort of role as he enters his second NBA season.
MORE: Bona learning to be patient, know his role... and scream as loud as he can
From @gobirds27: Do you worry about our backcourt's lack of "traditional" point guard play? I know the league has moved towards more combo guards, but ball movement has been a blight on this roster since the James Harden fiasco. I do worry we're not there yet since our best guards seem to be better off ball.
Maxey's limitations as a playmaker for others are well-documented, and while the Sixers have four young and dynamic guards, none of them are stellar creators. So, sure, it is a cause for some level of concern. Maxey is not a perfect player and neither are McCain, Grimes or Edgecombe. One of them being a high-caliber passer would be nice. But there is enough passing ability there that it will not be a fatal flaw for a foursome of players possessing remarkable talent.
The idea of having a point guard by committee -- where no player is quite qualified to serve as a lead offensive engine but multiple players are capable of handling bits and pieces of those duties -- is sometimes better in theory than in practice. But you point out the trend towards combo guards in the NBA, and it is not just that archetype: the trend is actually in line with something Sixers head coach Nick Nurse has always stressed: maximizing your number of viable ball-handlers on the floor at any given time will do wonders for offensive flow.
In 2025-26, the Sixers will have more players than ever capable of initiating transition offense. Maxey, McCain, Grimes, George and Watford have varying levels of skill on that front, with the latter two being forwards capable of getting rebounds a lot more easily.
From @kellenpastore.bsky.social: What is the Sixers' best lineup if they only have Maxey healthy out of their three max players? They can't afford to be as bad as they were last year for those games.
If Embiid and George are both out, the Sixers could feel compelled to try out some incredibly small lineups in hopes of beating teams with pace and space. These lineups will be extremely vulnerable on the defensive end of the floor, but they will at least have a chance of keeping up offensively.
Something like this:
| PG | SG | SF | PF | C |
| Tyrese Maxey | Jared McCain | Quentin Grimes | Trendon Watford | Adem Bona |
Or, in an attempt to add more perimeter defense and transition offense, something like this:
| PG | SG | SF | PF | C |
| Tyrese Maxey | VJ Edgecombe | Quentin Grimes | Trendon Watford | Adem Bona |
Or, in an attempt to have more size, something like this:
| PG | SG | SF | PF | C |
| Tyrese Maxey | Quentin Grimes | Kelly Oubre Jr. | Trendon Watford | Adem Bona |
Grimes is a must in the starting five under these circumstances, and Bona is clearly their best option at the five without Embiid -- at least until Andre Drummond proves otherwise, which nobody should count on. If Maxey is the Sixers' lone star, Watford should be included in any starting five to give his close friend some chances to play off the ball. Maxey pounding the ball into the ground over and over produced miserable results early on last year; his aforementioned skill as an off-ball player needs to be utilized moving forward, no matter what.
Going with Edgecombe or Oubre instead of McCain makes any of these units look more viable defensively, but with two players as gifted on offense as Embiid and George out it is somewhat difficult to justify not starting a player with as much talent on that end of the floor as McCain has.
MORE: One thought on each member of Sixers' current roster
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